Author's Note:It was really hectic last week. My finals are over, and I think I did really well. Yay! ^_^. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen computer issues, I wasn't able to log onto the internet for a good majority of the week. But I'm back, now! Yay! I'm going to try to get back to my intended update schedule - I've already begun writing Chapter 5, so I think I'll be able to finish it in time. ^_^
Something I noticed in a few reviews was the reaction to how I've been portraying Xellos in the story. As cyberimp6 pointed out, Xellos' character is more along the lines of how he acted in NEXT, and not quite so much in subsequent seasons. To be honest, Xellos on a whole can be a very difficult character to illustrate, especially in instances such as this. In my observations, I've noticed that Xellos tends to have a lighter personality whenever he has a bit of leeway in regards to his assignments, a few examples being the duration of NEXT and during a few episodes in the other seasons (tormenting Filia for fun, running Wizer around in that dungeon, etc.). I'm trying to keep up with that aspect of his personality, given that he isn't involved with any assignments at the moment.
A question posed was if Xellos was being a bit more good-natured than normal. I'm not all that certain how Xellos would react having a kid following him around; actually, I'm not sure just how much experience with children he's had. In the tale, I've referred back to the incident involving Xellos' rescuing Martina, something that was never really explained. Whatever his reasons, I doubt that Xellos expected her to hang around him for so long, and eventually used it to his advantage (or comic relief, at the very least. Given Phibrizzo's handling of her later in NEXT, I doubt she had anything to do with the plot; she was just there, and was relatively insignificant up until she was dying). This is sort of the same for Mimsy: Xellos decides to intervene for reasons unfathomable, and winds up with a little girl clinging to him. I guess you could say he doesn't really have a choice in the matter – Mimsy's just going to follow him anyway. LOL
At the end of the chapter are a few "housekeeping" notes to let everyone know what's going on as far as story updates.
And now, on with the story!
Chapter 4: A Scary Follower and an Incident in Saillune
"So, following you around all this time has finally paid off."
Looking back to when he'd first unveiled himself to Lina Inverse as the "mysterious" priest, he now realized the true significance of that statement. If he hadn't been instructed to more-or-less stalk the fiery redhead, he undoubtedly would have had a few difficulties in locating her. True, wherever the feared Bandit Killer wandered, destruction was left in her wake; however, Miss Lina was good at hiding, which was what really made her a fearsome force to be reckoned it. It wasn't just wanton destruction and Dragon Slave craters that made people fear her – it was the fact Lina Inverse could turn up anytime, anyplace, and always without warning. It wasn't until she let loose one of her spells that anyone knew that the Enemy of All Who Live had come to town. That was what really scared the general populace.
And tracking Gourry Gabriev was no easier. While no magic user by any means, the blond swordsman was hidden so long as he remained by Miss Lina's side. The Bandit Killer was no fool: anyone who traveled with her was bound to be covered by some kind of protection spell. The former Swordsman of Light was no exception.
Still, he had to try…
"Uncle Xellos," Mimsy whined, yanking at his cloak again, "when are we going to find these friends of yours?"
Xellos sighed inwardly. A full hour had passed since they'd left the unconscious bandits, and for a better part of the trek, Mimsy had subjected him to what he could only assume was a child's version of Twenty Questions. "I already told you: Miss Lina is a very difficult person to find –"
"Even for a monster?"
"Yes, even for a monster."
"Even for a monster as cool and powerful as you?"
"Well, sometimes, yes."
Mimsy was clearly impressed. "Wow! If she can hide from you, Uncle Xellos, I bet she could hide from Mr. Frigid, too!"
Xellos raised an eyebrow. "Why would you say that?"
"Because Mr. Frigid watches just about everything that he thinks is interesting," Mimsy said matter-of-factly, nodding as sagely as a four-year-old could. "And when Mr. Frigid thinks you're something interesting, you can't ever, ever hide from him unless he wants you to. But then he just goes and finds you again!"
"Your 'Mr. Frigid' sounds like a very peculiar individual," Xellos remarked with a frown.
"Nuh-uh. Just cold."
Xellos continued to frown as he scanned the Astral Plane. The more Mimsy talked, the more suspicious he became. There was something odd about this little girl, names notwithstanding. And he really had to know…
"Mimsy, may I ask you a question?"
"Yup, yup!"
"How did you know I was a monster priest?"
"Huh?" she cocked her head to one side. "Well, you are one, aren't you?"
"Yes. And I'm very curious to know how you knew that."
"Well, you look like one."
"A priest, yes. But not a monster." He stopped to kneel down to her level. "I'm very curious to know how you were able to tell."
"I just knew," she said brightly with a wide grin.
"Mimsy." Xellos' tone was ominous as he opened his eyes, direction a stern gaze in her direction. He didn't know much about children, but his experiences with humans had taught him that the right kind of intimidation was often a good inducer for gathering information.
For a moment, it appeared as though his tactic was beginning to work. The little girl shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. She looked down and began to fidget, the usual indication that she'd like to be anywhere but in his line of sight. She mumbled something that he didn't catch.
"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" he asked, tone coming out both coaxing and warning, causing her unease to increase.
"I don't like it when you look at me like that," she said after a moment, wringing her hands together nervously. "You look like Daddy and Mr. Frigid."
Xellos frowned, but obligingly closed his eyes. Once again, Mimsy had eluded his expectations. This kind of fear he felt coming from her would get him nowhere.
"Come on," he said, using his staff to help himself up. He turned on his heel and began to walk again. "I still can't find Miss Lina, so I'll just have to –"
"Wait! Don't leave me!" Xellos had to brace himself from falling forward as Mimsy's tiny form collided into the back of his legs. He twisted around to find her clutching onto his cloak with her face buried in the material. "Don't leave me with the scary thing!"
"Scary thing?" he raised an eyebrow.
She nodded frantically, causing her hair to move along with her bobbing head and glinting in the sunlight despite its tangled state. "It's the scary thing again!"
Xellos' frown deepened as he looked about their surroundings. For a moment, he thought Mimsy might have been imagining things.
But it was no figment of imagination. No sooner had the thought crossed his mind he felt it. There was definitely another presence – a lower-level Mazoku by the feel of it. It was coming from the set of trees to his left. Whoever it was, though, he didn't recognize them.
The frown turned into a scowl. What was another monster doing in the vicinity? If they were looking for him, they needn't have bothered hiding. Everyone in the Monster Race knew him by his reputation. Sneaking about would do them no favors.
The other monster's presence was certainly unwelcome, especially as Xellos was officially off-duty for the day. And the fact that Mimsy had noticed the thing before he had –
Xellos froze again. A simple human girl would never have been able to notice anything before he did. As far as he could tell, Mimsy was as normal as any other human child, but there was too much that stated otherwise. And if the monster watching them was after Mimsy, he now had even more reason not to let her out of his sight. Especially since she'd said "again".
He had no choice. As easy as it would be to deal with this obvious fool, he had an inkling that doing so at this junction would provide him no answers. He'd have to continue his search for Miss Lina later – he needed to get more information before he acted.
He twisted around and knelt back down to the girl's level.
"Mimsy, how would you like me to take you somewhere?" he asked.
She sniffed and looked up. "Did you find Miss Lina?"
"No, but I can think of someone who might know where to find her," he said cheerfully, raising a finger for emphasis.
Mimsy's face brightened at bit, but the beginnings of a smile quickly faded as she looked over to the set of trees where the presence was. "Will the scary thing follow us again?"
"Oh, I don't think so. We're going somewhere that the 'scary thing' won't be able go to without getting hurt. How does that sound?"
"Okay!" she let go of his cloak and grabbed the hand he'd extended to her with a broad smile.
Xellos smirked as he grasped her tiny hand. It was quite true what he'd said: no low-ranking monster would be able to handle the positive energies that Saillune had to offer. The barrier protecting the City of White Magic was a nuisance even for him, but it would provide him with a chance to think peacefully.
A quick check on the Astral Plane confirmed that the person he was looking for was indeed at home. Interestingly though, she didn't seem to be having a very pleasant day.
…
As soon as the Trickster Priest and the tiny girl had vanished from sight, the monster in the tree fell down with a crash. The branch hadn't been able to support him for as long as he'd anticipated.
Klisp shook his head to and fro in an attempt to ward off the dizziness. Pale charcoal and dusty blue scales glinted in the sunlight, much to his annoyance. He hated the warmth of the sun!
"Sssso, little girl found Klisssp out before Xellosss-priessst," he hissed to himself. "That'sss not good. And they went to Sssaillune." He shuddered at the name. "Klisssp mussst follow. Little girl can't run forever."
…
"Mr. Aeron, I don't expect you to fully understand Saillune's policies on our ancient ruins," Princess Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune began, glaring down at a cringing young man with skin that was inexplicably grey and hair that shone too brightly. "However, Mr. Zelgadis –" blue eyes rounded on the three-part chimera next to him "– knew perfectly well that what he was doing was wrong!"
"Geez, Zel, what were you thinking?" Lina Inverse grinned at the two devilishly. "Destroying the ancient catacombs outside the western entrance – talk about careless!"
"Like I told you all before," Zelgadis said testily, "it was an accident. All I was doing was trying to decipher some ancient writing left behind from approximately three hundred years ago. Because it's holy ground that negates magic, we had to resort to using ordinary methods of illumination. It isn't my fault that a stick of dynamite got lit up in the dark!" he shot a set of sapphire eyes in the direction of his now gloom-enshrouded cure-hunting partner.
"How was I supposed to know?" Aeron wailed miserably. "It was all dark in there, and the dynamite package was right next to the box of candles in your sack! And they felt the same!"
"I thought you said you could see pretty well in the dark." Zelgadis' evil look intensified.
Lina was smirking away, personally enjoying the banter. So far, she'd been having a satisfying day: no sooner had she and Gourry arrived in Saillune after bandit-bashing in Ralteague, they decided to pay a visit to Amelia and grab a royal buffet. A massive explosion occurred outside the western entrance not long after they'd entered the city, sending up a good portion of the walls and decimating the lookout tower on that side. Thinking there was trouble, they'd dashed over to scene, only to discover, to Lina's hysterical amusement, that the cause of the explosion had been two cure-hunting chimeras, Zelgadis Greywers ready to kill his partner at any given moment.
Aeron Guthrie was a chimera made up of a human, an evil-tempered demon, and a small shard of Mazoku. Like Zelgadis, he'd once been an ordinary human looking for a way to become stronger. And, like Zeladis, he got it – just not in the way he'd liked it. Of the two of them, Zel had been the luckier one: at least he hadn't lost control of his mind to one of his chimera components. Aeron had, and was only now getting used to being somewhat "normal".
Well, as normal as he could be, given that he was still dealing with bouts of schizophrenia. Lina had to give the guy credit, though: he was doing pretty well so far. Whiny and a hopeless klutz, but that at least was tolerable in comparison to everything else in the past.
Unfortunately, it looked like Zelgadis was about ready to revoke the younger chimera's new lease on life with this latest blunder. Out of all the cursing and yelling, Lina'd gathered that in the time since they'd all separated, Aeron had activated overly complicated booby traps, enacted three curses that Zel had to undo, nearly gotten them captured by chimera enthusiasts – the list seemed to drag on. It looked like the ever-suffering great-grandson of Rezo the Red Priest had only found additional misery with his newfound companion.
"Who lit the dynamite isn't the issue here," Amelia said sternly, and threw her hands down on the table, causing pieces of chicken and various other poultry to go up in the air. Lina and Gourry had gotten their banquet, alright – it just happened to be in the cell Saillune's guard was keeping the two tomb raiders in until it was decided what to do with them. "Mr. Zelgadis, you knew that nobody's allowed to explore the catacombs without first obtaining official licensing! How could you just break in there without even going through protocol?"
"Because we went in the restricted section," Aeron put in, only to be sent back to cringing as Zelgadis gave him another glare.
"Mr. Zelgadis, how could you?"
"Well, there is one good thing that came out of this," Gourry announced, holding up a drumstick for emphasis.
"Oh? And what's that?" Lina inquired mildly.
"This is the first time there's been destruction in Saillune and Lina didn't have anything to do with it!"
…
Xellos smirked off to the side as he heard the group face-fault and crash. This couldn't have been more perfect: here, he'd been looking all over for Miss Lina, and looked like he'd found not only her but everyone else! Coming Saillune had been a wise choice after all. He could kill two birds with one stone.
Perfect. That was just the way he liked things.
A/N: Yeah, I decided to let my OC Aeron make an appearance here. I needed a reason for Zelgadis to show up, and Aeron was the perfect scapegoat. XD
Before I forget, I'll be having one other OC appearing here later on (I couldn't resist putting her in - it was inevitable. LOL). And yes, Filia will be making an appearance! Val, too! How could I not let them appear – the opportunity is just too perfect! XD
Okay, as for "housekeeping":
Nights of the Stranger – I haven't had much of a chance to write anything here, but I'll try to get back to Sunday updates as soon as I can.
Winter Wishings – Nearly complete! I'll try to have it updated by Wednesday, but I can't guarantee anything just yet.
The Epicurean – During finals, I was forced to put this story on temporary hiatus. I'm not sure when I'll be able to resume updates, but keep an eye open. This is one of my personal favorites, so rest assured that it'll be updated again eventually.
Slayers Plus – Ah, yes, the story that keeps giving me issues. I'm proud to say that the prologue through Chapter 4 has been updated, and Chapter 5 is nearly finished with editing process. As soon as I've fixed all the plot holes, Chapter 8 will be posted. I'm estimating another week or so before I can properly update, so keep an eye out. This story will definitely be pulled off the hiatus list.
For anyone who has been following my Ouran HSHC fic, True Confessions, Chapter 5 is nearly complete, and will posted soon. I'm so sorry for the long wait!
Whew. Man, have I got a lot of projects going on! LOL Sorry I wasn't able to get back to individual reviews – like I said, it's been hectic. Until the next chapter!